In the middle of my annual cross-country drive, was in the no-mans-land between St. George UT and Grand Junction CO and my right-rear wheel was losing air. After one misdiagnosis, finally a guy at a tiny shop found this crack on the inside of the rim. Said he only worked on steel rims but this "might" be fixable. Thoughts?
(FYI the horizontal line is a scratch and not a crack)

 

That doesn't look safe to me even if fixed cosmetically.

 

To be clear, this is on the INSIDE of the rim so "cosmetically" is not an issue. The first techs I worked with didn't even catch it as you'd have to take the wheel off to see it.
If this helps, this is a 20" Kalimnos wheel.

 

The Kalimnos does seem to be a "soft" wheel and considerably more prone to damage than other designs. I think your problem will not so much be a good alloy welding repair as then getting the wheel straightened.

My XK had pothole damage to the front LH Kalimnos. No crack but definitely bent:





I had it professionally straightened and refinished but that wheel continued to lose 2-3 psi air pressure over a month. The other three wheels don't lose any air. Took it back and had it checked again but the small air loss continued. This began to annoy me so much that I replaced the wheel. Unfortunately it took more than a year to find a new front Kalimnos at a reasonable price from a JLR dealer clearing stock. Rears are easy to find but fronts are scarce.

Graham

 

I had a similar crack on a double five run on my older x100, fixed it and it held air but even with effort didn’t 100% balance out. I ended up buying a wrecked car wheel and had it and all my other wheels refurbished so they matched 100%.

If I were you I’d hit up the junkyard network and get a nice wheel, with maybe light curb damage and get your set refinished, since availability may be a concern on NOS wheels like Graham mentioned.

 

Any visible impact damage elsewhere? No apparent impact damage but a severe crack; I would hope you woudn't find anyone willing to fix that.

 

I'd be hesitant to myself, family or friends in a car with crack like that in the wheel.

 

UPDATE:
Found a weld shop that specializes in this. They said since it wasn't that far along it was fixable. Tire place removed the wheel, weld guys fixed it (did an excellent job, sorry, didn't get a pic), took it back to the tire shop where they remount the tire and balanced it. I'll update at the end of the day, which will be 500 miles later...

 

I have had three of my Kalimnos suffer cracks over the last eight years including one about 3 months ago. Each time my indie sent it out to someone who specializes in welding these types of wheels, and each time I have had no problem since the repair was completed. I have had cracks in both front and rear wheels.

 

Fixable doesn't mean it's safe. A weld weakens the structural integrity of the metal surrounding the weld. It's only a matter of time before you hit another pothole and it cracks again, with possible catastrophic results.

Why put your life and the lives of others at risk, just to save a few hundred bucks? Is it worth the risk? That's up to you.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ed-rim-240977/

 

I'll have to disagree, as a proper weld does not weaken the integrity of any metals. An IMPROPER weld most certainly will, but not a PROPER one. While I'm not good enough to try a wheel, I have done enough aluminum welding to know it's as safe as anything can be.

 

Ask a metallurgist. He'll tell you that a weld will never be as strong as the original material. The vast majority of wheels done professionally will hold up just fine, but there are always some that take a good hit and pop the weld or crack in another spot.

20" wheels with low profile tires are particularly vulnerable, since there's very little air cushion to absorb the impact.

How do you tell if a weld repair is PROPER? You can't. It's a crapshoot, and I don't gamble with my life.

 

if the wheel cracked on its own without a hard pothole strike or some other mechanical force to explain it, then it stands to reason that it will do it again elsewhere on the wheel even if you can repair that. you got unlucky on that one. whether cast or billet it really doesn't matter if the material was accidentally tainted in fabrication and it snuck past quality control; the problem is potentially everywhere in the wheel and just waiting for shocks/stresses to relieve itself with more cracks.

i've actually repeatedly heard the opposite of that for steel and for aluminum, that the welds are stronger than the original material. but there are a lot of variables and i wouldn't know in what context that is or isn't true.

 

@Stuart S , you’re up early.
Id be interested to know what kind of warranty comes with the repair? A guarantee you’ll make it out of the parking lot??
I did have a wheel repaired by the dealer. a bump after hitting a pot hole. As such, it was guaranteed for a year. unlimited mileage. Repair and labour. I don’t think you can ask for more than that.
But lets take a look at the cause of this unfortunate situation:
Many are selecting a lower profile tire than originally spec’d. To me it feels too much like driving an unloaded military 5 ton. If anything I’d be going up a size. My all seasons and winters gradually move away from the spec and up in profile. My summers are spec.

 

A proper weld when subjected to failure stresses will not fail. The metal next to it will fail long before the weld will. That's basic welding school 101. Weld your parts together, take a BFH and beat into submission. If the weld fails, you fail. A proper weld will not fail before the metal will.

That being said, I understand people's reluctance to repairing wheels. Given the state of driving as we currently know it, I'm not worried about a some wheel failing as much as I am worried about some moron with a cell phone jammed up in their face. That's also why my daily driver is a 7000# truck or a 6000# suv. When I head out in the XKR, I'm trying to stay way away from other drivers and head in directions to allow me to do so.

 

You can't compare taking a BFH and beating a weld into submission, as you said, to hitting a pothole at 40 MPH in a 4,000 lb car on a welded aluminum rim with a low profile tire.

"... a weld will never, ever be quite as strong as the original material." Read this:
https://precisionwheels.com.au/weld-...uminium-wheel/

If welded rims are safe, why does the shop require you to sign a Hold Harmless and Indemnification Agreement? Think about it.

 

I have thought about it and now I'm more worried about the body of a 4,000 lb car made of recycled coke cans bashed into 290 parts held together with 285 ft of glue and 2640 rivets .............





........... and 2 welds holding the roof on if you happen to have a Coupe.

Graham

 

Okay a little off topic but similar concept

 

I would opt for an EC used (not refurbished) or new wheel.
Repair of JLR parts for fun and/or frugality is my normal mode.
However, based on recollections of materials science class (long ago) and common sense, repair of the wheel shown is out of the question for me.
Unless very dependable ND testing is available, safety of a cracked/repaired wheel remains questionable.

 

Welp. 1600 miles later and the drive is done. To read the comments, apparently I'm lucky to be alive to write this (but apparently I like "gambling with my own life." In truth, that I do.)
The tire guys (not the welder, who was awesome) gave a me a deal on a four-wheel balance and honestly the remainder of the ride was even smoother and more solid than before, at all speeds, including a nice patch through eastern CO at about a buck-ten.
And "hit a pothole at 40 miles an hour?" Don't know about that, but I do know about driving over St Louis bridges and through southern Illinois and playing dodge-the-crater across the Pennsylvania Turnpike at 85 miles and hour. Apparently I like to RIDE THE LIGHTNING BABY!!